Our Story

Let us take you to a place, just south of Padthaway in the South-east where we acknowledge this Nation's Po:taruwutj people who thrived here for tens of thousands of years. The red-brown clay lays over limestone gravels, the air off the Southern Ocean is clean and fresh giving cool summer nights, warm days and the sun is shining.
Harry & Ada Summers established Cardiness in 1948 as one of the nine original Padthaway soldier-settler families. Harold and Pam Thompson produced beef cattle in the fertile Bylong Valley, on the edge of the Hunter Valley of NSW. There, they embodied a rich and progressive approach how plants, livestock, and land co-relate.
Today, Julie and John Summers continue their families’ heritage on the original homestead land. A diversified enterprise comprising specialised business services for a range of Australian and international clients is integrated with horticulture, wine and grass-fed beef production authentic to the qualities of this Po:taruwutj place.
With the guiding knowledge from her father, Julie shows with respect and appreciation how best to integrate soil, plant and animal nutrition with minimal intervention.
We pay homage to our heritage and the lessons passed down from all the generations before us. Today we use progressive technology and business processes to enhance our efficiencies in the exciting vastness of Australia's food producing future.
Our low intervention winemaking ensures the flavours are distinctively Padthaway with freshness, fine texture and balance.
We invite you to explore our approach to forward looking business services and our wine and grass-fed beef production.
Finally, we believe a Nation's future rests mainly with its People. It is fundamental then that the manifold communities in which we live and thrive are individually progressive, sustainable in every respect and built on the foundations of a rich culture and history that unites and binds all together.